Comments for The People's Pensionhttp://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu
Separating fact from superstition about Social Security, social insurance, and mutual aid.Tue, 17 Nov 2015 19:57:13 +0000hourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.2Comment on Has Social Security (Ever) Been “Raided”? by Eric Laursenhttp://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/2010/09/20/has-social-security-ever-been-%e2%80%9craided%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-74153
Tue, 17 Nov 2015 19:57:13 +0000http://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/?p=178#comment-74153Thanks for the comment. With all due respect, however, the system isn’t a shell game (or a Ponzi scheme). It’s pretty straightforward, and the disaster scenarios we hear are exaggerated, for reasons I’ve addressed elsewhere. I haven’t checked your figure on average lifespan, but I’d guess you’re about right. The key here, however, is the word “average.” Plenty of people, if not most, live longer than 76 years. Social Security benefits become more and more vital as people get older. The point is that we (you) don’t know. Social Security is insurance against your assets and other income drying up. Poverty among the elderly would shoot up if the schemes to “trim” and “adjust” it were realized. And guess who would have to shoulder the burden? Their families. Be glad we ave it. Thanks again for your comment.
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Mon, 16 Nov 2015 02:15:35 +0000http://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/?p=178#comment-74025The entire string has been very enlightening. It all goes to show one very basic idea……The United States Government has no business whatsoever in trying to act as a savings account holder for the people for the very reason on display in all of these posts above. It is a colossal shell-game and nightmare. With all of the pushing to raise total earnings that can be taxed (it goes up every year) and all of the pushing to move the retirement age to 70 is 100% ridiculous. People start working in their teen years – 15 for me. And I started paying taxes on those earnings just like everyone else. The average lifespan of a man in the U.S. is just under 76 years of age. So let’s have the average man work all of his life and PAY for 55 years into SS……..so that, maybe, he can draw his benefit for 5.9 years. Does this make a lick of sense? To anyone? It is exactly the reason why the United States Government has no business whatsoever acting as a savings account manager for the people’s money. Want to see an even bigger disaster awaiting us on the horizon? They call it the Affordable Care Act………
]]>Comment on Hardship Case by A cynical take on limiting Social Security eligibility | Steve Readshttp://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/2015/10/22/hardship-case/comment-page-1/#comment-72902
Thu, 22 Oct 2015 19:15:58 +0000http://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/?p=625#comment-72902[…] Laursen today describes the GOP desire to limit Social Security only to those people who are too sick to work, then goes […]
]]>Comment on Has Social Security (Ever) Been “Raided”? by Eric Laursenhttp://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/2010/09/20/has-social-security-ever-been-%e2%80%9craided%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-70478
Mon, 21 Sep 2015 14:00:21 +0000http://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/?p=178#comment-70478The “politician” you talked to is, if I may so so, full of it. Payroll tax revenues are used to pay current benefits and anything left over is invested in US Treasury bonds. That’s the Social Security trust fund. FYI, it currently amounts to $2.79 trillion. The proceeds from the Treasury bonds are used by the federal government for general expenditures, which could be anything from “pet projects” to education and health care to fighting imperialist wars in the Middle East. If your friend has a problem with this, it’s not with Social Security or the trust fund but with the things Congress decides to include in its budget. As for the wisdom of investing those payroll tax proceeds in Treasuries, what would your friend rather have them invested in? Stocks and bonds? Direct ownership of companies? Lottery tickets? The reason they are invested in Treasuries is because after Social Security was set up, Republican (let me underscore: Republican) politicians were concerned that if they were invested in anything else, the Social Security system would wind up owning a substantial part of the American economy–socialism, in other words. Investing in Treasuries was a way to keep that from happening.
The misinformation and BS that’s been spread about Social Security’s finances is enough to boggle the mind several times over. It’s just par for the course that yet another “politician” is spreading this kind of nonsense. Ah well …
]]>Comment on Has Social Security (Ever) Been “Raided”? by Tomhttp://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/2010/09/20/has-social-security-ever-been-%e2%80%9craided%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-70400
Sun, 20 Sep 2015 14:49:39 +0000http://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/?p=178#comment-70400I talked with a Politician, who would know, about the amount of money taken from our Social Security since 1968. He told me the actual amount in “investments:, iou’s and transfers was app $4.2 trillion. Much of these “investments” are for pet projects as paybacks for political contributions, and such as the Green House loans, many of which the government knew were failing, provided monies back to the Democratic party. I then asked him, if these were such solid investments, as President Obama said they were, how much has been taken from your Federal pension and retirement accounts? The answer was -0-. not a dime! I think that should tell you something.
]]>Comment on Social Security’s future is being written in the streets of Ferguson by Ian Ohttp://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/2015/08/25/social-securitys-future-is-being-written-in-the-streets-of-ferguson/comment-page-1/#comment-68393
Wed, 26 Aug 2015 02:01:49 +0000http://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/?p=618#comment-68393Reminds me of the fragmentation of the Iraq war protest – is it about the war? …or is it about gay rights, income inequality, abortion, voting rights, GMO’s etc ? By making a non-differentiated progressive agenda that lumps together all these laudable causes, it seems less likely that any single issue, based on it’s merits, will overcome a generalized conservative opposition.
]]>Comment on About The People’s Pension by bill resnickhttp://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/about/comment-page-1/#comment-66249
Sat, 01 Aug 2015 16:37:57 +0000#comment-66249Hi Eric Laursen,

Thanks for the interview with Anne Kornhauser. I do radio interviews (20 minutes) on KBOO, 90.7fm Portland, and would like to talk to you about SS, a safety net, and democracy, including the current predatory attempt to privatize as well as ways to build support by building a more alert activist people. Must prerecord the interview soon so please reply at your earliest.

bill resnick 503-803-9373

]]>Comment on Has Social Security (Ever) Been “Raided”? by Michael Hlohinechttp://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/2010/09/20/has-social-security-ever-been-%e2%80%9craided%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-54561
Fri, 01 May 2015 22:52:14 +0000http://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/?p=178#comment-54561There is a political mindset that has allowed social security funds to be manipulated at the expense of senior citizens. Who gave politicians on both sides of the aisle permission to loot these funds from an insurance policy for our old age? The intention of social security has always been as a safety net to allow individuals a decent quality of life in their golden years.

I have no problem with FICA taxes to provide revenue for social security funding. However, I have a problem with additional federal and state taxing of social security benefits. This is taxing our taxes!

Let’s shore up the Social Security Trust Fund by removing the social security income cap and allowing the wealthy to pay their fair share. The rich don’t need another tax break at the expense of the poor and middle class.

]]>Comment on The Meaning of Harry Reid’s Departure by Eric Laursenhttp://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/2015/04/03/what-harry-reids-departure-means/comment-page-1/#comment-50287
Sat, 04 Apr 2015 05:53:29 +0000http://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/?p=593#comment-50287Well, I never said Reid was perfect. No politician is. Reid was contradicting the lessons of his own career in going the “pragmatic” route on Obamacare, and look where it got us. What I was trying to highlight in my post was the background and understanding of politics that informed some of Reid’s better actions.
]]>Comment on The Meaning of Harry Reid’s Departure by Jay Gertzmanhttp://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/2015/04/03/what-harry-reids-departure-means/comment-page-1/#comment-50268
Sat, 04 Apr 2015 02:25:28 +0000http://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/?p=593#comment-50268Sorry, I meant ” Why did he (or Pelosi) NOT fight for it?
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